I. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to burial vaults, and more particularly, to burial vaults which are easily transportable, or stackable, or both.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Burial vaults have long been known, and are used to contain caskets when they are buried in the ground. Typically, a burial vault is a boxlike structure having a flat bottom and a removable lid, and a wall portion disposed therebetween. The burial vault is generally designed to prevent the entry of vermin or debris into the vault when the lid is placed on it. Burial vaults are usually constructed from rigid, wear-resistant materials, such as concrete or a concrete-filled resinous plastic shell. Examples of the latter type of burial vault can be found in our U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,060,581 (Nov. 29, 1977), 4,261,083 (Apr. 14, 1981) and 4,314,390 (Feb. 9, 1982).
One problem associated with prior burial vaults has been the difficulty of transporting them. The not insignificant weight of burial vaults, in combination with the flat bottom, makes the moving and lifting of the vaults awkward tasks at best. The awkwardness is increased if a casket is present in the vault to be moved, as the overall weight will be greater.
The construction of conventional burial vaults is a source of part of the expense of transporting them. If the vault lid has a curved exterior surface, the flat bottom on the box portion prevents the stacking of one vault on top of another during transportation. If, on the other hand, the lid has a flat surface, the vault can be stacked for transportation. However, the flat bottom will again make lifting and unstacking difficult, due to a lack of clearance space between the abutting lid of one vault and bottom of another vault.